Identity theft is a crime that leaves the victim with a heavy financial burden, tarnished reputation and an uncertainty for the future. If you are a victim of an identity theft in any shape or form, you are guilty till proven innocent.  According to the FTC 2006 survey, the median amount of time spent on resolving the effects of the crime is about 10hrs.  From my personal experience, it has been an ongoing battle.  In many cases, the victims are left with the consequences for life.

We, as a society have learned plenty about the identity theft in the last few years, but there are still a lot of ignorant people with misconceptions about the rights of the victims.

Here are 7 most common misconceptions:

1. Identity Theft Is Always committed by strangers.

This is absolutely not true.  Although the majority of id theft crimes are committed by strangers, there are plenty of cases in which the relatives, or friends, or co-workers or anyone else the victims knew committed the crime.  According to the FTC 2006 survey, 84% of all id theft crimes were committed by people not personally known to the victims; 8% of id theft crimes were committed by a neighbor, a friend or in home employee; 6% were committed by a family member/relative; 2% by co-workers.

2. My Social Security Card is safe in my purse.

Sure, that is if your purse is locked in a heavy-duty safe.  According to a survey conducted by Sun Life Financial, 40% of people surveyed carried their Social Security card with them. The wallets and purses get stolen all the time!  Only carry your identification and one credit/debit card, two at the most.

3. I am not liable for the charges on my stolen credit card.

Think again.  If you do not report your stolen credit card as soon as it happens or if you do not dispute fraudulent charges within 60 days from the statement date, you may be held accountable for any transactions done using your credit card.   If you started getting strange collection notices or collection calls and you did not know about the charges, you will have to prove you are a victim of id theft. From my personal experience, it is not as easy as one may tell you.  You may file a police report, but it may not help you.  Most of identity theft cases are just sitting around because it is so difficult to track the thief.  So, you ARE guilty…until proven innocent.  In the eyes of the lenders, you are just trying to get out of paying your debt.

4. My credit report cannot be accessed by an unauthorized person.

Far from the truth.  Your credit report can be accessed by anyone who has your name, date of birth, address and your social security number. Businesses usually have to have a legitimate reason to access your credit history, but the thieves can access your credit pretending to be you.  Every consumer is allowed to get a consumer credit report.  Your credit report contains a lot of information including credit card numbers.

5. Senior citizens are the common victims of identity theft.

It is true that the Senior Citizens do fall victim to the id theft, but, let’s face it, with such a limited spending power they have, it does not make much sense for the thieves to specifically target them for account frauds although the thieves do not discriminate against age, race, social status, credit history, etc.

6. I cannot ask for fraud alert if I have no proof of identity theft.

Of course you can! If you have reasons to believe you are an identity theft victim, you can place an initial fraud alert for 90 days. In this case, no proof of being a victim is required.  However, if you are placing an extended fraud alert, which stays in effect for 7 years or until canceled, you will be required to provide the Credit Reporting Agencies with a police report or at least ID Theft Affidavit along with a proof of your identity.

7. If there is a fraud alert placed on your credit, the perspective lender MUST call you.

While it is true the Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates that credit lending companies should call the individual who is requesting a credit, a lot of companies still do not do that.

The Identity Theft crime is here to stay whether we want it or not, but we can take the time and educate ourselves about it.  I heard people say “It will never happen to me! I have a bad credit.”  It is not just about your money when it comes to ID theft, your information can be used in many different ways.  Let’s learn together!  Please submit any questions, leave comments, tell your story.  Let’s make it difficult for the thieves to victimize innocent people.